PRAY

i'm not sure how many people actually read my blog but if you do please pray for kayleigh!

happy birthday

well today em turned one!  i'm so happy that she is growing up to be such a beautiful, smart and healthy girl. i look at her and can't believe that time has gone by so fast. it feels like just yesterday i was holding her for the first time! it's so cool to see her grow up! her personality is really starting to show. she is so goofy... definitely a trait she gets from her daddy! she is also so sweet and loving. i hope that she always has those traits! 

 we did some fun stuff today to celebrate her birthday. we started the day off eating breakfast at cracker barrel. if you didn't know, this has been a craig family tradition since i met cliff! cracker barrel is one of my favorite restaurants and we always go there for my birthday. this year we got to take em for hers! after we ate, we took her to the aquarium and world of coke. she loved looking at the fish at the aquarium but i think the world of coke was more for our enjoyment :) 

we ended the day at panera for dinner and a birthday cupcake for dessert! what a great birthday!

here are a few pics of our fabulous day! 

this is how we eat

oh spaghetti night....

time flies when you're having fun...

so this past weekend i shopped for em's first birthday party which is crazy! we are having her a little first birthday party at the church with family and some of her little friends. i can't believe she is almost one already. time sure does go by fast! it seems like it just yesterday when we brought home our little yellow love bug :) now she is crawling and talking...of course saying everything but "mama". it's so cool to see her little personality coming out as she gets older. she's so goofy...i wonder who she gets that from? :) anyway, i have some recent pics of her....i'll get those up soon. here is one from the beach a few weeks ago. enjoy.

sunday update

so today nick vujicic came to lakewood. it was awesome...actually awesome doesn't even describe how good it was. if you have never heard of him, you should check out his website lifewithoutlimbs.org. he is amazing and his story is solid. 

we just got back from the beach. it was very relaxing. the first day it was 60 degrees with 40 mph winds which gave us a great excuse to sleep all day...exactly what we needed! cliff and i got to spend some much needed time together. even though em was with us, for some reason getting away from it all is was so peaceful and relaxing.

as a side note: there are a few things about myself that i am working on right now. just a few things that i am trying to be better at that will help me to grow closer to Jesus. so if you have any extra time this week pray for me. pray that i would become who He wants me to be. thanks :)

unto the one...

so our band at lakewood did a music video to promote their new cd out in october. here is the link: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozAHtkTD2Qk

you should watch it!

last week we started 40 days of community. tonight we talked about reaching out. this week i have been thinking a lot about how people see me. i want to be someone people look at and just know that i am a believer. one of my very best friends in college was so solid and no matter what the situation she always had a smile on her face. not the fake kind of smile but the i really care about you kind of smile. you could just see Jesus in her. if you were having a bad day, just being around her made you feel better. i remember always wanting people to see me like i saw her. 

i think how people view us is very important. how can you reach lost people if you aren't living a life pleasing to Jesus? i mean, we all sin and fall short but learning from those falls is what sets us apart. we have to be different...act different...so people will see Jesus through us. 

so this week i am praying that i can be one of those people. that i can bring others to Jesus by who i am and how i live my life.

sick

em is sick. she has an ear infection and a virus. please pray that she will feel better soon! she just started going to our church weekday and she is already sick which is a little stressful. 

other than that, the week has been good! we visited clemson this past weekend. it was great to be back there. you just get this warm feeling inside when you are on campus. we went to the first friday parade and then to pizza hut (hood family tradition). it was a great weekend...now if we can get over this sickness!